The Institution Mixte de la Perfection de Viciere (IMPV) school project is one of Haiti Health Initiative’s many humanitarian efforts. In progress since 2015, the project aims to bring a much-needed new facility to the Girls and Boys School of Perfection of Viciere [translated] in the remote, mountainous village of Timo (or Nan Falez, which means “at the bottom of the cliffs”).

Slide courtesy of ARUP

With adequate funding, the new facility could be up and running as early as April 2018.

The IMPV school was founded in October 2010 by Timo native and resident Mr. Vernet Jean Gilles to serve the greater community of Timo. Gilles says [translated],

“The thing that makes me the most proud is this: children in this area would otherwise have had to leave the community to go to school, either in Fond d’Oies, Léogâne, or Tombe-Gâteau. However, they are able to obtain their education here in the community, and that is what makes me the most proud of our school—we are able to provide the children with an education.”

This community currently includes 227 IMPV-attending students, 12 teachers, and Gilles himself as principle and lead administrator. The school is housed primarily in a 20 x 20 ft. Baptist church facility (when the building is not in use by the church) in addition to four small satellite shacks. About 100 students meet in the church facility and the other 127 are distributed between the satellites. There are no restrooms or separate classrooms in these buildings. There is no electricity or air conditioning or canteen. The buildings are not habitable in hot weather, and the children are often sent home early on excessively hot days. Even under moderate weather conditions, the children have a difficult time learning in the crowded, noisy conditions.

There is a lack of separation between classrooms in the current facilities.

The children and teachers share a cramped space.

The outside of the Baptist church facility/current main school building.

In October 2014 Gilles reached out to HHI and asked for assistance to build a new facility. In April 2015 IMPV provided a simple plan for a school that would meet their needs.

The following is an interview with Mr. Gilles in February 2015:

Partnership with ARUP

In October 2015 Haiti Health Initiative invited ARUP—a global firm of independent designers, architects, and engineers—to join the project. Since then, HHI and its local Haitian partners have worked with ARUP to find a suitable plot of land for the new school building, and ARUP and HHI have worked together to design the school building itself, which includes several important innovations, as well as an external latrine facility and a retaining wall. As of October 28, 2016, ARUP and HHI have entered into a legal partnership for the duration of the project.

ARUP has provided the following images to help illustrate the design process:

A glimpse of the considerations behind the building placement on the IMPV plot.

Several of the innovations to be included in the new facility.

The school will consist of 2 two-story blocks and an independently standing water closet facility, all enclosed by a retaining wall.

An approximation of the layout of the ground (first) floor of the new facility. The retaining wall is also included in this rendering.An approximation of the layout of the first (second) floor of the new facility. The retaining wall is included in this rendering as well.

Specifics of the classroom designs can be viewed below.

The next few images are illustrative renderings of the outside of the facility.

A sketch of the design proposal.

ARUP has presented several creative material design ideas for potential use on the outside of the facility.

This diagram shows where each of the design ideas presented above would appear in the new facility.

The cost of the school is broken down in the graphic below (courtesy of ARUP):

ARUP has given HHI the following information regarding the expected timeline of the project:

“We hope that groundwork can start before the end of the summer. The design information should be ready by November. Hopefully construction of the school will be completed by April 2018.”

All that remains is raising the required funds.

Current Fundraising Progress

As Alexander Flash, an ARUP architectural designer, observed, “It’s not going to be business as usual for HHI.”

HHI currently has about $34,000 USD to fund the project. Subtracted from the $247,127 USD total sum required for the construction of the building, this leaves a remaining need of about $213,127 USD. ARUP offices in Toronto recently hosted a fundraising event, and HHI continues to promote awareness of the project through individual and company partners in addition to occasional fundraising events such as the 2015 gala. Parents, residents, teachers, and students in the Timo community also give monetary and time contributions as they are able.

To date, ARUP’s fundraising drives and events, such as this Toronto office party, have generated $1,951 USD.

Community Impact

HHI committee member and nurse practitioner Rebecca Rampton commented on the impact of the school on the community of Timo at the 2015 gala. Open the link below to hear her remarks.

Founder Marc-Aurel Martial said the following about HHI’s intended impact on the Timo community: “Our goal is to do sustainable good.”

HHI aligns itself with the United Nations’ goals for sustainable development. Quality education; decent work and economic growth; industry, innovation, and infrastructure; gender equality; no poverty; reduced inequality are all goals that will be positively impacted by the completion of the school project, which will make education more accessible to an entire community, including multiple remote villages.

Martial also maintains that, “The more organized we are, the more good we can do for more people in a short period of time.”

Giving the children of Timo a new, organized building where they can focus, learn, and make the most of the time they spend at school each day will increase the amount of knowledge and education they receive in a shorter amount of time. School founder and administrator Vernet Jean Gilles expresses the opinion that, “There will no longer be chaotic, noisy conditions, and the children will feel more comfortable and will learn better.”

It is HHI’s goal that each person will obtain at least a primary level education, which will give them greater ability to sustain themselves and their entire community. As things currently stand, adult Timo residents have had an average of only 3.5 years of education.

Martial continues that, “Education can be seen as a social opportunity and as literacy which can be a barrier or an asset to health education and health literacy.” Supporting education in Timo is also supporting the public health and well-being of the larger community. Gilles expresses this same sentiment when he says, “My main goal for the school is to serve the community and to train the children so that they can become responsible citizens to replace the older generation one day. I want to not only serve the community but also the whole country.”

Why Should You Consider Donating to the IMPV School?

Founder Marc-Aurel Martial believes that there are several reasons why building this new school facility is a sustainable investment, which sustainability makes it a cause people should consider funding.

First, there is a strong connection between education, health, and economics. Evidence shows that people who have more education tend to have more economic opportunities and healthier lifestyles. According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP),

“Access to quality education remains key to Haiti’s social and economic development…These statistics show that a generation of Haitian youth is at risk for not having the necessary knowledge and basic skills to succeed in the labor force and contribute to the continued development of the country.”

Second, the school was founded by a native and resident of Timo at the request of community members and leaders. It has been serving the residents of Timo since 2010.

Third, Haiti Health Initiative and its sister Haitian organization Inisyativ Sante Peyizan (ISAP) are built on sustainable principles of adding to the good already in place instead of unnecessarily creating new good from the bottom up. Our partnership with the community of Timo to build the school is consistent with our vision and approach to allow people to keep the good that they have and add to it.

Please consider helping HHI bring the necessity of education to more than 200 children living in and around Timo. Education is at the core of HHI’s vision of progress for Timo. Click here to donate to the school fund.

Christie Desir, the current Miss Haiti Universe, holds a BBA in marketing and a minor in fashion styling. She left her career at Interscope Records doing brand marketing and partnerships to move back to Haiti to make a difference in her country. Christie understood at an early age that her purpose in life is to give back to Haiti by creating sustainable and resourceful jobs and by contributing to youth education development. She believes that every child should have access to basic education, no matter what circumstances they live in. On her first mission trip with HHI to the village Timo, she instantly felt connected with the area and, most importantly, with the people. She witnessed a whole community come together in hopes for a better life, to provide for their families on their own, and for continuous education. Christie is dedicated to improving the health, education level, and well-being of Haitians, one community at a time, by joining forces and collaborating with Haiti Heath Initiative.

According to the United Nations Development Programme, “Access to quality education remains key to Haiti’s social and economic development. . . Statistics show that generations of Haitian youth are at risk for not having the necessary knowledge and basic skills to succeed in the labor force and contribute to the continued development of this country.”

Residents of Timo, Haiti, young and old alike, yearn for an opportunity to improve their lives through education. However, the majority of individuals in this community receive an average of 3 to 4 years total of schooling in their lifetimes and 80% of current students are impoverished and financially unstable. The current facility available for use by 120 school-age children, preschool through 9th grade, is only a makeshift building with inadequate facilities. There is no electricity, windows for ventilation, proper furnishings and supplies, indoor restroom facilities, or space for the 100 additional children in the surrounding communities that have to walk a minimum of 45 minutes to attend school in Tom Gato. The facility is also shared with the local Baptist congregation, and classes are cancelled an average of 14 times each year due to scheduling conflicts.

At this time, HHI is committed once again to improving the lives of the residents of the rural community of Timo, Haiti, by raising funds to construct an adequate and self-sustainable schoolhouse. We at HHI are confident that building this schoolhouse will provide this generation of Haitians with an improved quality of education and will prepare them to contribute to the development of their beautiful country.

A plot of land is already available for the facility, and residents of Timo will contribute money, time, and labor to construct the schoolhouse; however, their resources are limited.

Therefore, HHI will be holding its first annual fundraising gala on November 7th, 2015, in order to raise the much-needed funds. We invite you to partner with us in this opportunity to empower the people of Timo, Haiti, by donating to the construction of the schoolhouse. Every penny of your donation will bring us closer to the $125,000 needed to construct this school.

We appreciate your time, and please know that any effort or funds donated to this cause will go directly to cover the cost of constructing this schoolhouse in Timo, Haiti. At HHI, we do not believe in giving handouts but in providing education opportunities that will allow Haitians to gain the experience and knowledge they need to rise above their circumstances and to better provide for themselves and for future generations.

We are creating this blog post in behalf of Guivenson, a 14-year-old boy from Timo, Haiti, who needs to have heart surgery to repair a very large ventriculoseptal defect (VSD). This boy was first examined by members of the Haiti Health Initiative (HHI) medical team in October 2014. This heart condition is severe, and Guivenson will develop heart failure without having the surgery.

His mother and father are anxious to have this surgery done as soon as possible. Many of you who are reading this have already shown your generosity by participating in HHI teams to Timo or by making donations in the past. A special note about Guivenson: his father was one of the local Haitians who generously gave his time to build the new Timo Community Center. It makes sense that his son, who was seen by the medical team during the trip when the Community Center was opened, might be able to have this life-saving surgery as a result of the efforts of HHI. Marc-Aurel Martial knows this family well and speaks of them with great fondness. Now we must raise the funds to make this surgery possible.

We have been in direct contact with the pediatric cardiac surgeon, Dr. Eliot Rosenkranz, at the University of Miami Children’s Hospital. With assistance from International Kids Fund (IKF), an NGO that helps fund and arrange surgeries for children from Haiti, we have been given approval for this heart surgery. IKF has asked HHI to help with the costs of doing the surgery in Miami, so we are trying to raise $5000 in the next few weeks.

We hope that you, as well as your family and friends, can make a donation to HHI for Guivenson’s surgery. Please feel free to publicize this intitiative to your friends and associates through word of mouth, e-mail, and social media. Please seize this opportunity to make a large difference in the life of a 14-year-old Haitian boy.